History
During the Han Dynasty, Jingdezhen was known as Xinpin. Historical records show that it was during this time that it began to make porcelain. Xinpin then was renamed Changnanzhen (Changnan Town) during the Northern Song Dynasty. It took the era name of the emperor during whose reign its porcelain production first rose to fame. In 1004 CE, during the North Song Dynasty, Changnanzhen became Jingdezhen.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jingdezhen was named one of four famous towns in Chinese history, along with Foshan (Guangdong Province), Hankou (Hubei Province) and Zhuxianzhen (Henan Province).
"Allegedly, Jingdezhen gave birth to the English name of the country. The ancient name of the town is Changnan.... Way back in time, Changnan was synonymous with ceramics, and over time, foreign ceramics traders made the name sound like “china”. The rest is history."
In the 19th century, Jingdezhen became a county. During the period of the People's Republic of China it became a provincial city but retained the Jingdezhen name. Usually when a town is upgraded to a city, the designation of "city" replaces that of "town", but Jingdezhen retained its name to honor its history.
Jingdezhen was named one of top 24 national historical and cultural cities of the People's Republic of China on February 28, 1982.
In 2004, Jingdezhen celebrated the millennium of its becoming the porcelain capital and its assuming its present name.
Read more about this topic: Jingdezhen
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Free from public debt, at peace with all the world, and with no complicated interests to consult in our intercourse with foreign powers, the present may be hailed as the epoch in our history the most favorable for the settlement of those principles in our domestic policy which shall be best calculated to give stability to our Republic and secure the blessings of freedom to our citizens.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“To history therefore I must refer for answer, in which it would be an unhappy passage indeed, which should shew by what fatal indulgence of subordinate views and passions, a contest for an atom had defeated well founded prospects of giving liberty to half the globe.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)